After a loss to the Athletics on Wednesday, Liam Hendriks is 0-8 in 13 major-league starts. No other player who came up with the Twins franchise lost his first eight decisions as a starter. The previous most is seven, by Paul Abbott and Terry Felton. (Felton finished his major-league career 0-16, as a starter and reliever, the most losses without a win in major-league history.)
Month: August 2012
New Britain to host 2013 Eastern League All-Star game
According to milb.com, The Eastern League has announced that the New Britain Rock Cats will serve as the host of the 2013 Eastern League All-Star Game. The game will be played on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 and will feature teams representing the Eastern Division and the Western Division. The two-day All-Star festivities will also include additional community events beginning on July 9 and continuing through July 10.
“We are extremely honored that the Eastern League has chosen the Rock Cats to host the 2013 All-Star Game,” said Rock Cats owner Josh Solomon. “This is going to be a terrific event for baseball fans and families throughout the region and we look forward to showcasing the future stars of major league baseball right here at New Britain Stadium.”
“The Eastern League is very excited to be bringing our premier event back to New Britain after the city previously served as an outstanding host of the event in 2003,” said Eastern League President Joseph McEacharn. “The event will be returning to New Britain next season thanks in large part to the efforts of their new ownership group, led by Josh Solomon, to deliver this event for their fans. Connecticut’s longest continuous professional sports franchise is celebrating its 30th Anniversary in New Britain in 2012.
Twins Minor League Player of the Week
Infielder Deibinson Romero is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. The 25-year old right-handed hitting Romero hit .375 (6-for-16) with a double, two home runs and had seven RBI’s in four games for Double-A New Britain. Romero signed with the Twins as a non-drafted free agent in 2004.
Romero is slowly progressing through the Twins minor league system playing primarily 3B but also plays some 1B as needed. In his 7th minor league season, Romero has 2,230 minor league at bats and has a career average of .264 with 56 home runs but 29 of those have come in the last two seasons. Romero is not a threat on the bases.
Twins Iron Men
The Twins have had their share of injuries the last few years and it got me to wondering how often a Twins position player has participated in every game during a particular season and when was the last time this has happened. We all know that Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken played in 2,632 consecutive games over a span of 17 years. Think about that, every game over a span of 17 years! An amazing streak no matter how you look at it.
Since the Washington Senators packed their bags after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins in 1961 they have had only 5 position players in 51 seasons that have played in every regular season game in a particular season and one of those players accomplished that feat twice and the name might surprise you. Here is the list of Twins players that have played in every Twins regular season game in a particular season.
| YEAR | Name | Games Played |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Justin Morneau | 163 |
| 1984 | Gary Gaetti | 162 |
| 1979 | Roy Smalley | 162 |
| 1969 | Harmon Killebrew | 162 |
| 1967 | Cesar Tovar | 164 |
| 1966 | Harmon Killebrew | 162 |
Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision
The Twins position player that led the team in games played the most seasons was outfielder Kirby Puckett. The “Puck” lead his teams in games played on seven occasions between 1985 and 1993 and averaged an amazing 156.66 games during that period. I think the Twins “Iron Man” has to be the great Kirby Puckett.
Twins Leader in Games Played Over the Years
| YEAR | Games Team Played | Name | Games Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 161 | Bob Allison | 159 |
| 1962 | 163 | Zoilo Versalles | 160 |
| 1963 | 161 | Zoilo Versalles | 159 |
| 1964 | 163 | Zoilo Versalles | 160 |
| 1965 | 162 | Zoilo Versalles | 160 |
| 1966 | 162 | Harmon Killebrew | 162 |
| 1967 | 164 | Cesar Tovar | 164 |
| 1968 | 162 | Cesar Tovar | 157 |
| 1969 | 162 | Harmon Killebrew | 162 |
| 1970 | 162 | Cesar Tovar | 161 |
| 1971 | 160 | Cesar Tovar | 157 |
| 1972 | 154 | Bobby Darwin | 145 |
| 1973 | 162 | Rod Carew | 149 |
| 1974 | 163 | Rod Carew | 153 |
| 1975 | 159 | Rod Carew | 143 |
| 1976 | 162 | Rod Carew | 156 |
| 1977 | 161 | Rod Carew | 155 |
| 1978 | 162 | Roy Smalley | 155 |
| 1979 | 162 | Roy Smalley | 162 |
| 1980 | 161 | John Castino | 150 |
| 1981 | 110 | John Castino | 101 |
| 1982 | 162 | Gary Ward | 152 |
| 1983 | 162 | Gary Ward & Gary Gaetti | 152 |
| 1984 | 162 | Gary Gaetti | 162 |
| 1985 | 162 | Kirby Puckett | 161 |
| 1986 | 162 | Kirby Puckett | 161 |
| 1987 | 162 | Kirby Puckett | 157 |
| 1988 | 162 | Kirby Puckett | 158 |
| 1989 | 162 | Kirby Puckett | 159 |
| 1990 | 162 | Gary Gaetti | 154 |
| 1991 | 162 | Chili Davis | 153 |
| 1992 | 162 | Kirby Puckett | 160 |
| 1993 | 162 | Kirby Puckett | 156 |
| 1994 | 113 | Chuck Knoblauch | 109 |
| 1995 | 144 | Marty Cordova & Kirby Puckett | 137 |
| 1996 | 162 | Paul Molitor | 161 |
| 1997 | 162 | Chuck Knoblauch | 156 |
| 1998 | 162 | Matt Lawton | 152 |
| 1999 | 161 | Todd Walker | 143 |
| 2000 | 162 | Matt Lawton & Cristian Guzman | 156 |
| 2001 | 162 | Luis Rivas & Corey Koskie | 153 |
| 2002 | 161 | Jacques Jones | 149 |
| 2003 | 162 | Torii Hunter | 154 |
| 2004 | 162 | Lew Ford | 154 |
| 2005 | 162 | Lew Ford | 147 |
| 2006 | 162 | Justin Morneau | 157 |
| 2007 | 162 | Torii Hunter | 160 |
| 2008 | 163 | Justin Morneau | 163 |
| 2009 | 163 | Michael Cuddyer | 153 |
| 2010 | 162 | Michael Cuddyer | 157 |
| 2011 | 162 | Danny Valencia | 154 |
2012 Little League World Series underway
The 2012 Little League World Series began play in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania on August 16 and will culminate with the championship game on August 26. This year is the 66th playing of the Little League World Series. The sixteen-team tournament has eight International teams (Caribbean, Japan, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America) and eight U.S. teams (New England, Northwest, Southeast, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, West, Southwest, and Midwest). In 2011, the Ocean View Little League of Huntington Beach, California defeated Hamamatsu Minami Little League of Hamamatsu City, Japan 2–1 in the World Championship game.
Three former Minnesota Twins players have participated in this grand event.
- Minnesota Twins prospect Clete Thomas was a member of the 1996 Panama City, Florida club that advanced to United States final before losing to Cranston, Rhode Island.
- Minnesota Twins infielder Sean Burroughs, who was the ninth overall pick in the 1998 First-Year Player Draft was a member of both the 1992 and 1993 Long Beach, California teams that won back-to-back Little League World Series titles.
- Jason Marquis a Twins pitcher earlier this season and currently with the San Diego Padres was a member of the Staten Island, NY 1991 LLWS team.
Six Little League teams from Minnesota that have gone on to play in the Little League Baseball World Series. Players for each team are typically the “All Stars” from the geographic area of each league. The players are chosen after the Little League regular season has ended. The Minnesota teams that have participated are listed below. Most of these Minnesota teams have been able to get past the first round, but no Minnesota team has made it beyond round two of Little League Baseball World Series play.
1963 – Duluth Central LL team from the Duluth area 1985 East Tonka LL from the Minnetonka area 1994 Brooklyn Center American LL from the Brooklyn Center area 1995 Little Lakes West LL from the Arden Hills area 2007 Coon Rapids National LL from the Coon Rapids area 2010 Plymouth-New Hope LL from the Plymouth areaThe only two players to participate in a Little League World Series, a College World Series and a MLB World Series are Ed Vosberg and Jason Varitek.
Melky Cabrera suspended
MLB recently announced that San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera has received a 50-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Testosterone, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Cabrera responded by accepting the punishment, apologized to his team and his fans and admitted he did it.
What more needs to be said? Apparently the baseball media just can’t believe that there is still cheating in baseball and any sports station or blog you visit wants to know why Cabrera did it. Why would a guy leading the league in runs scored and in hits and plays for a team just one game or so out of the division lead do such a thing? To me the answer is simple, when you want something so badly, you do not spend a lot of time thinking about the consequences of getting caught because you think you are smart enough to avoid getting caught. This kind of thinking is human nature and we all do these kinds of things, just maybe not on the same level. When you drove in to work this morning did you speed, go faster than the speed limit? You know it is illegal to go faster than the speed limit but yet you went ahead and did it because the odds are that you won’t get caught and besides, everyone is doing it. You know that if you get caught there will be a fine and a probable increase in your insurance rates but you didn’t give those possible issues a second thought did you? What about people who rob a bank, they know there is a chance they will get caught but they do it anyway. What about the people who cheat on their spouses, they know the consequences will be severe if they get caught but in their mind they won’t be one of those that will get caught.
That is the way the life is, people are always looking to better their personal situation or satisfy their needs, it is not about the consequences. If consequences were upper most in our minds we would not be doing the things that society says are wrong or immoral. We as humans always want more, we want to be the best at everything we do. How much time do you think that Melky Cabrera or any other baseball player for that matter that has taken performance enhancing substance has spent thinking about the impacts that their actions will have on their teammates, family or friends? Not much I think, there are few among us who are in a position to cast stones. We do the best we can in our lives and life goes on, I am not defending Melky Cabrera or what Melky Cabrera did here, I am just saying that we all need to understand that we are all far from perfect and we need to understand that these kinds of things have been going on since the beginning of time and that they will go on long after we are gone. It is called life.
Twins option Dozier and call up Florimon
The Twins announced after today’s 8-4 loss to the Tigers at Target Field that they have optioned shortstop Brian Dozier to Rochester and called up Pedro Florimon. Surprised? I am, I know that Dozier is struggling but the team is going nowhere so what do the Twins have to lose by allowing Dozier to learn the game in the big leagues versus in AAA Rochester. Manager Gardenhire sat Dozier for the second straight game after a questionable fielding play the other day when he threw to first instead of throwing home for a force play or trying for a double play and the mistake allowed what amounted to the winning run scoring in a game against the Tampa Rays. I also thought that Dozier made a mistake there but sitting him for 2 days and then sending him down does not seem like the right message to me. I know that Terry Ryan is sending Dozier a message here but with the Twins playing like they are and it is mid-August, why bother? The Twins are going to call Dozier back up on September 1st anyway. It just seems to me that the Twins are “rubbing Dozier’s nose in it” and I don’t like it.
The Twins picked the switch-hitting Pedro Florimon off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles in December of 2011. The 25 year-old Florimon is known for his slick fielding but his hitting has always been his Achilles heel. Florimon was 1 for 8 in 4 games for the Orioles in 2011. This season Florimon started in New Britain where he played just 30 games before being bumped up to Rochester. In Rochester, Florimon is hitting .251 in 341 plate appearances with 16 doubles, 2 triples and 3 home runs with 21 RBI’s and 6 stolen bases in 13 attempts. I know the Twins want to see what Florimon can do in the big leagues but why do it now versus waiting a couple of weeks for September 1 to come along?
According to Elias
Twins rookie Samuel Deduno improved his record to 4-0 in seven starts this season this with a victory over the Tigers at Target Field last night. Deduno earned the win despite issuing five walks, bringing his season total to 30 bases on balls. Deduno is the first major-league pitcher to go undefeated in a span of seven starts in one season while walking 30 or more batters over that stretch since Tampa Bay’s Victor Zambrano in 2004. The last pitcher to do that for the Washington/Minnesota franchise was the Senators’ Ed Linke in 1935. Source: Elias
Twins that have not jogged around the bases
The home run hitters of baseball have been idolized by baseball fans for years, but what about those “Punch-and-Judy” hitters that just have not been able to put one out over the fence and haven’t even been lucky enough to get an inside the park home run? These guys probably could not hit one out even if you let them stand on second base and hit. A Punch-and-Judy is said of a hitter who tends to hit well-placed but weakly-hit balls for singles. The first reference was made by former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Walter Alston when asked about a home run by Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants. “When he belts a home run, he does it with such authority it seems like an act of God. You can’t cry about it. He’s not a Punch and Judy belter.”
From what I can determine, the player with the most at bats in the big leagues without ever getting a home run is Bill Holbert. Holbert was a catcher who played a little outfield and infield in 1876 and 1878-1888 with six different teams. Holbert is credited with 2,335 official at bats without hitting a single round tripper. But that was a long time ago and if you look at more modern times, the record holder is Tom “Rebel” Oliver, an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox from 1930-1933 who had 1,931 official at bats and 534 hits but not a homer in the bunch.
So let’s see who among Twins position players going back to 1961 with 100 or more at bats were or are true “Punch-and-Judy” type hitters and who had the most official at bats without a four-bagger on their Minnesota Twins resume.
Number 1 on this list is Al Newman. Newman played 2B/SS/3B for the Twins from 1987-1991 when they played in the Metrodome and Al had 1,647 at bats in a Twins uniform and he failed to hit a single home run. Newman also played for Montreal in 1985-1986 and for Texas in 1992. Between those three teams Newman had 2,107 at bats and he had one home run. Newman’s only career home run took place on July 6, 1986 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium off Atlanta Braves starter Zane Smith.
Number 2 on the list is current Twins outfielder Ben Revere. Revere has been with the Twins off and on since 2010 and during those three season he has 809 at bats through August 12, 2012 without a home run to his credit but he has a ways to go to catch up with Al Newman.
Number 3 on the list is SS/2B Houston Jiminez. Jiminez played for Minnesota in 1983-1984 and had 384 at bats in a Twins uni without a single home run. Jiminez also played for the Pirates in 1987 and the Indians in 1988. Jiminez had 411 career at bats without a homer.
Fourth on the list is SS Luis Gomez. Gomez played for the Twins from 1974-1977 and had 362 official at bats without a long ball. Gomez went on to play for the Blue Jays in 1978-1979 and the Braves in 1980-1981 but when his career ended he had 1,251 major league at bats and a “0” in the home run column.
In the fifth spot on this list is another current Twins player, 2B/SS/3B Jamey Carroll. Through today Carroll has 352 Twins at bats and he still has not cleared the fences. Carroll is in his 11th big league season and is playing for his sixth team and he has hit 12 home runs in his 3,326 career big league at bats.
Number six on our list is catcher Junior Ortiz. Ortiz played in the big leagues for 13 seasons with 5 organizations and he did hit 5 home runs in 1,894 at bats but as a Twins catcher in 1990-1991 he had 304 at bats and not a single home run. Maybe that is why he wore the number “0” on his back as a Minnesota Twin?
Lucky number seven on the list is yet another current Minnesota Twins player, fan favorite (NOT) Tsuyoshi Nishioka who has played 2B and SS. Nishioka has 233 big league at bats to his credit and zero home runs.
Eighth on the list is a Liriano, no, not Francisco but 2B Nelson Liriano. Nelson Liriano has 25 home runs in his 11 seasons and 2,216 at bats in the bigs but as a Minnesota Twin in 1990 he came up empty in the home run column in 185 at bats
Ninth we have another catcher, Jose Morales. Morales was with the Twins parts of 2007, 2009-2010 and hit .297 in 158 at bats but none of the long ball variety. Morales spent 2011 in Colorado and had 60 AB’s there but again came away without a home run.
Number 10 on the Twins homerless list is SS/2B Sergio Ferrer. Ferrer had zero home runs in 138 at bats as a Twin in 1974-1975. Ferrer played for the Mets in part of 1978-1979 and had 40 more at bats there with zero long balls.
Eleventh on the Twins homerless list we have 2B/3B Dan Monzon who came up void of any home runs in his 131 career big league at bats in 1972-1973 with the Minnesota Twins.
Our twelfth and final Minnesota Twins position player with 100 or more at bats with zero home runs is catcher Bruce Look. Look spent all of his 118 big league at bats with the Twins in 1968 and he had no luck hitting one out of the park.
So between these 12 position players we have 4,821 Twins at bats and not a single home run in the group. Isn’t it strange that three players (numbers 2, 5, and 7) on this list are currently playing for the 2012 Twins? That completes a look at the position players with 100 or more at bats with zero home runs on their Twins resumes. The two Twins pitchers with the most at bats as Twins with zero home runs are Mudcat Grant who had 298 regular season at bats in a Twins uni with no homers. We all know about the Mudcat’s home run in-game 6 of the 1965 World Series against the Dodgers and Grant did hit 6 home runs in his 14 year big league career but he did not hit any for the Twins. The other pitcher is Bert Blyleven who had 451 career at bats with zero home runs and 235 of these at bats were as a Minnesota Twins pitcher.
UPDATE AS OF SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 – Jamey Carroll homered against the Chicago White Sox pitcher Hector Santiago at US Cellular Field in the fifth inning of yesterdays game to end his Twins streak of 412 consecutive at bats without a home run. This streak of 412 homer less games moves him up to number 3 on the Twins list behind Al Newman and Ben Revere.
CORRECTION as of September 5, 2012 – It was brought to my attention that I missed outfielder Jason Tyner who had 442 Twins at bats before hitting a home run off Jake Westbrooke at Jacobs Field on July 28, 2007. Todate Jason Tyner career home run count stands at 1. This would put Tyner number 3 on the Twins list.
However; the original intent of my story was to list the Twins with the most at bats that had zero home runs on their entire Twins resume and not really to list the most consective Twins at bats without a homer, thus Jamey Carroll and Jason Tyner really would not belong on this list.
Twins minor league player of the week
Rochester right-handed pitcher Esmerling Vasquez is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In 11.2 innings Vasquez went 2-0, with a 0.00 ERA, allowed four hits, five walks and 10 strikeouts in two relief appearances. Vasquez pitched 4.0 scoreless innings of relief, August 4 at Toledo, then 7.2 scoreless innings of relief, August 9 vs. Scranton-Wilkes/Barre. Vasquez, 28, joined the Twins organization after being claimed off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks on September 27, 2011.
Primarily used as a reliever, Vasquez has started 5 games this season. Vasquez has appeared in 28 games for Rochester putting up a 7-5 mark with a 3.10 ERA. In 81.1 innings he has allowed 61 hits and struck out 50 but he has walked 25 batters. Vasquez has previous big league experience appearing in 141 games for Arizona in 2009-2011.